Apparatus for taking samples of sewage and other flows



April 5, 1955 c. J. HARTLEY APPARATUS FOR TAKING SAMPLES OF SEWAGE ANDOTHER FLOWS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.

36 Inventor Qyrl'. 1%)1/95/ y Age/1f April 5, 1955 c. J. HARTLEYAPPARATUS FOR TAKING SAMPLES OF SEWAGE AND OTHER FLOWS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2-Filed Dec.

United States Patent APPARATUS FOR TAKING SAMPLES 0F SEWAGE AND OTHERFLOWS Cyril John Hartley, Stoke-on-Trent, England Application December30, 1949, Serial No. 135,891

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 8, 1949 4 Claims.(Cl. 73-421) This invention relates to means for taking samples ofsewage and other flows.

It is the practice on sewage works to take samples of the sewage atregular intervals throughout the day, usually at the outfall, andsometimes at different stages in the process of purification, and thissampling is at present done by hand at hourly or other regular intervals-throughout the day, and sometimes through the night also. To do thisrequires the regular attendance of a chemist or assistant, and much timeis taken up thereby.

The objects of this invention are to do away with the need for thisattendance for the purpose of securing the samples, to providemechanical means for taking the samples at the desired time intervals,and to provide means for preserving such samples separately, and withoutadmixture or dilution, until such time as it is convenient to handlethem.

Further objects of the invention are to enable an installation to beleft without sampling by hand for any convenient period, say forinstance twelve hours, and to obtain a sample by mechanical means onceevery hour throughout the period, and further to preserve the twelvesamples separately so that each can be examined and the times and orderin which the samples were obtained made immediately apparent.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal part sectional view.

Figure 2 is a plan.

Figure 3 is a transverse section.

Figure 4 is a detail showing how the drive to the turntable can bedisconnected when required.

Within a channel or other enclosure an endless elevator chain 11 isarranged, the chain being carried over top and bottom sprockets 12, 13respectively, with intermediate diverting sprockets 14, 15. The elevatorchain 11 carries a single bucket 16 which dips into the sewage in thebottom of the channel. An electric motor 17 is mounted at the surface ofthe channel and drives a pulley 18, which in turn by a V-rope 19 drivesanother pulley 20 mounted on a spindle 21. The spindle 21 carries achain sprocket 22 which through a chain 23 drives a sprocket 24 mountedon a spindle 25. This spindle carries the top sprocket 12 by which theelevator chain 11 is driven. It also carries another sprocket 26connected by a chain 27 with a sprocket 28 mounted on a worm shaft 29carrying a worm 30 and mounted in bearings 31. The worm 30 drives a wormwheel 32 mounted on a spindle 33 supported in a bearing 34 and carryinga horizontal turntable 35. The motor 17 is started up automatically byan electric time switch at hourly or other suitable regular intervals,when it is desired to take samples. The motor is stopped by a limitswitch operated from the elevator after the chain 11 has made onecircuit. The limit switch is so positioned that it stops the bucket 16in approximately the position shown in Figure 1, that is, on itsdownward travel between the point of discharge at the surface and thelevel of the sewage below ground. The gearing between the motor and theelevator may be arranged to give one circuit of the elevator chain insay one to two minutes during which the sample is taken. The bucket 16discharges each time into one of several partitions 36 arranged roundthe periphery of the horizontal table 35. The latter is so synchronisedwith the elevator that at each discharge of the bucket 16 the turntable35 moves round one partition, so that if the turntable 35 has twelveperipheral partitions or pockets 36,

2,705,425 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 each adapted to contain a sample, itwill move onetwelfth of a circle for each chain circuit of the bucket16, and at the moment of each discharge of the bucket conta ning thesample, one of the partitions or pockets 36 W11]. have moved directlyunder the bucket to receive the contents, and so on in sequence tilleach of the twelve partitlons has received its sample. In Figure 2 thetwelve partitions 36 are shown separated by intervening blank spaces,but it will be obvious that there could easily be twenty-four partitionsor pockets and the gearing could be arranged to move the turntable onetwenty-fourth of a c rcle at each circuit of the bucket. A tap may beprovrded under each pocket to discharge into a test-tube or the like andso drain the pocket, and in some cases removable pockets may besubstituted for the fixed pockets, the removable pockets beingpreferably withdrawn radially. The bottom of the elevator chain 1.1 isarranged at a depth where it is immersed at the lowest level to whichthe sewage may fall, and is preferably tensioned by hanging a weight 40attached to and centrally below the bottom sprocket 13. A single endlesschain 11 is preferable for the elevator, with the bucket 16 fastened atthe side of the chain to avoid the diverting sprockets 14, 15, which arenecessary for giving an overhang at the discharge point, so that thesample can be discharged down a chute 38, the outlet of which ispreferably tubular as shown at 48, Figure 4 and which may be fitted witha sliding weatherproof shield 49 over the aperture 50 in the cover 51 sothat there is no possibility of splashing from one pocket to another,and so that there is no danger of rain or snow falling or draining intothe samples when the apparatus is open to weather. The bottom weight 40is slung from the opposite side of the sprocket 13 from the side onwhich the bucket 16 passes. The driving spindle 33 for the turntable 35has a cover flange 41 attached to it at the top which serves also as aweather cover as indicated, and the turntable 35 has a hub 42 attachedto it. The hub has a flange 43,. in which there are a number of holes44, corresponding to the number or to a multiple of the number ofpockets 36 in the turntable. There are two holes 45 in the cover flange41 and a peg 46 is passed through the hole 45 into any one of the holes44. The peg therefore acts as a key connecting the turntable 35 with thedriving spindle 33. The driving spindle can be disconnected from theturntable by withdrawing the peg 46, whereupon the turntable 35 can berotated freely. This is a convenience when the samples are being drawnofi from the pockets 36 and provides that when the peg 46 is againinserted into any one of the holes in the flange 43 the pockets arecorrectly repositioned in relation to the bucket elevator for againstarting up.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for taking samples of sewage and other flows comprising aframe, sprockets mounted in said frame, an elevator carried by saidsprockets and movable into the sewage, drive means applied to at leastone of said sprockets to move the elevator, at least another one of saidsprockets being located to form an overhang at the point where thesewage is to be discharged, a bucket attached to said elevator, saidbucket being situated at the side of the elevator so that it is out ofthe way of the sprockets during its travel, a weight hanging in thebottom of the elevator, being wholly carried by said elevator andserving to tension said elevator, and a receiver positioned beneath theoverhanging portion of the elevator to receive the contents of saidelevator bucket when it discharges.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the drive means moves saidelevator one complete circuit at a time so that the bucket collects asample, discharges it into the receiver, and then comes to rest again.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the drive means isoperatively connected with said receiver, and at each circuit of theelevator, said drive means acts to move said receiver, the receiverhaving a series of pockets therein, the movement imparted to saidreceiver serving to bring each of said pockets succeessively in positionto receive the contents of the elevator bucket.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 having a disen- 4 gageable connectionbetween the drive means and the 955,193 Paulitsch Apr. 19, 1910receiver. 1,228,078 Truesdell May 29, 1917 1,483,861 Heulings Feb. 12,1924 References Cited in the file of this patent 5 gloodside Pei). 289,1 ompson pr. UNIFIED STATES PATENTS 2,196,681 Moroney Apr. 9, 1940291,474 Finch Ian. 1, 1884 2,335,364 Slaubaugh Nov. 30, 1943 818,643Schock Apr. 24, 1906 2,348,806 Gillard et a1. May 16, 1944 946,744 VanMater Jan. 18, 1910

